Asymmetric Fiber Double-Electrode Triboelectric Nanogenerator Design for Energy Harvesting and Multidirectional Motion Sensing

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices have promising applications in the fields of wearable power technology, motion monitoring, physiological monitoring, and human–computer interaction. A challenge is making TENG devices according to scalable techniques enabling multidirectional action with high sensitivity and accuracy. Herein, we present a scalable nanotechnology, delivering a dual-electrode semi-cylindrical fiber TENG (DE-TENG), resembling a combination of Merkel disks (MD) and Ruffini endings (RE) skin elements responding to different tactile stimuli. The upper and lower silver nanowire-based (Ag NWs) electrodes are encapsulated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form single-electrode modes in a DE-TENG configuration with asymmetric responsivity for both electrodes. For energy harvesting applications, a long-term stable output results, and the instantaneous output power of the upper electrode reaches a maximum value of 0.64 μW at an external load resistance of 100 MΩ, with the output power of the lower electrode being four times smaller. Moreover, for motion recognition with low forces (below 0.15 N), a very high sensitivity is realized in the state of the art, with the upper and lower electrode layers of the DE-TENG material providing 9 V/N and 15 V/N. In this context, the DE-TENG material was mounted onto a finger to accurately identify a bending or touching motion, benefiting from a strong signal at least by one of the electrodes, and further exploited in a multi-channel wearable e-fabric with stimulus-dependent position recognition. In combination with deep learning, coupling of multi-channel signals from such dual-electrode TENG can improve the accuracy of motion recognition up to 99.84%, further extending the applications of TENGs in wearable sensors.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Dual electrode / Asymmetric responsivity / Smart textiles / Multi-channel signals / High low-force sensitivity

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Funding

Chinese Scholarship Council(202106660003)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Donghua University, Shanghai, China

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